Five manganese(II) complexes of formulas [Mn-2(Etmal)(2)(H2O)(2)(L)](n) (1-4) and {[Mn(Etmal)(2)(H2O)][Mn(H2O)(4)]}(n) (5) with H(2)Etmal = ethylmalonic acid (1-5) and L = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane (bpa) (1), 4,4'-azobispyridine (azpy) (2), 4,4'-bipyridyl (4,4'-bpy) (3), and 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene (bpe) (4) were synthesized and structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Their thermal behavior and variable-temperature magnetic properties were also investigated. The structure of the compounds 1-4 consists of corrugated layers of aquamanganese(II) units with intralayer carboxylate-ethylmalonate bridges in the anti-syn (equatorial-equatorial) coordination mode which are linked through bis-monodentate bpa (1), azpy (2), 4,4'-bpy (3), and bpe (4) ligands to build up a three-dimensional (3D) framework The structure of compound 5 is made up by zigzag chains of manganese(II) ions with a regular alternation of [Mn(H2O)(4)](2+) and chiral (either Delta or lambda enantiomeric forms) [Mn(Etmal)(2)(H2O)](2-) units within each chain. In contrast to the bidentate/bis-monodentate coordination mode of the Etmal ligand in 1-4, it adopts the bidentate/monodentate coordination mode in 5 with the bridging carboxylate-ethylmalonate also exhibiting the anti-syn conformation but connecting one equatorial and an axial position from adjacent metal centers. The manganese-manganese separation through the carboxylate-ethylmalonate bridge in 1-5 vary in the range 5.3167(4)-5.5336(7) angstrom. These values are much shorter than those across the extended bis-monodentate N-donors in 1-4 with longest/shortest values of 11.682(3) (3)/13.9745(9) angstrom (4). Compounds 1-5 exhibit an overall antiferromagnetic behavior, where the exchange pathway is provided by the carboxylate-ethylmalonate bridge. Monte Carlo simulations based on the classical spin approach (1-5) were used to successfully reproduce the magnetic data of 1-5.